In Loco Parentis
by NoNaMe19Kaneis
Summary: Sally Jackson had the poker face of a shield agent and the patience of a saint. Nothing seemed to faze her. And this was hardly a surprise to those who knew her. But to Earth's mightiest heroes, she was an anomaly whose extreme adaptiveness was largely overlooked. Then Peter Parker and Sally's Jackson met for the first time.
1. When Worlds Collide

Sally Jackson had the poker face of a shield agent and the patience of a saint.

Nothing seemed to faze her. Not when Captain America walked through the front entrance with a disgruntled, one armed ex-assassin. Not when Hawkeye initiated a tower-wide prank war, causing what would later be dubbed 'The Incident'. And not when Tony Stark walked up to her on her first day of work, demanding that she arrange for 2,000 chicken nuggets to be delivered to the Avenger's common room.

Considering her experience with the strange, unusual, and otherworldly, this was hardly a surprise to those who knew her. But to Earth's mightiest heroes, she was an anomaly whose extreme adaptiveness was largely overlooked, one who sat silently on the sidelines, taking phone calls and pointing visitors to the floors they're meant to go to.

Then Peter Parker and Sally Jackson met for the first time.

Sally Jackson looked at the young teen who wrote his name on the visitor's sign-in tablet. The sharp contrast between his casual jeans and science punned shirt to the employees' business-like pencil skirts and suits made her smile.

He reminded her of Percy, and she felt a surge of protectiveness when she noticed the looks of mistrust in the eyes of the building's other patrons toward the child. She glared at them until they looked away before turning to the kid, taking back the sign-in tablet, and glancing at the name on the bottom of the screen.

"Welcome to Stark Towers Mr. Parker, do you have an appointment?"

"No- well, yes- I'm actually the new intern for the engineering department," he crossed his arms and laughed nervously, "I'm supposed to go up to the 42nd floor...?" He ended it like a question, and Sally pulled up the security's clearance list on her desktop.

As she printed out a visitor's pass, Peter was thinking about how out of place he was in the state-of-the art lobby. Usually he went through the garage entrance but today he was in the area and it's less trouble to walk than for Happy to pick him up during rush hour. At the same time, Sally wondered why an intern had the highest security clearance short of Ms. Potts and Tony Stark.

"Okay, you're good to go."

"Thanks," he mumbled, and then he was gone.


	2. The Power of Mini Muffins

Peter wrung his hands as he rode up to the Avenger's common room. He knows he's not expected to meet with Mr. Stark today but he needed to speak with him about his suit. It's been nearly a week since he gave it to him for repairs and he was getting nervous. Mr. Stark insisted on working on the suit even though Peter was perfectly capable of sewing it up himself. He wrung his hands harder. What if this was the man's way of preventing him from being Spider-Man? He wouldn't be surprised. He did mess up last week with the bodega robbery which led to his suit being reduced to taters and three gashes in his side. Not to mention his near-daily blunders. Of course, he would-

"Peter, we have arrived."

Peter snapped out of his panic long enough to recognize that the elevator doors were open. He looked up at the ceiling to where the AI's voice rang out and said a bit breathlessly, "Thanks, Friday."

Stepping out of the elevator, he glanced around the empty common room. The TV was still on, playing some sitcom he's never seen before and behind the couches was the bar, locked tight. Soda cans and pizza boxes were stacked on the coffee table. Peter's stomach growled as his footsteps echoed in the corridor. "Friday, where is everyone?"

"They've been on a mission since yesterday afternoon and aren't expected back until tomorrow night." Peter deflated at the news and turned to walk back into the elevator.

But the sight of the discarded pizza boxes made him pause. "Are there any leftovers?" He asked Friday softly.

"Yes, there are two slices left." Peter bit his lip nervously and shuffled his way towards the coffee table. They wouldn't miss two measly slices of pizza, right? He reached out a hand, looking around for any witnesses before snatching the slices and rushing back to the elevator.

Even as his previously empty stomach settled in satisfaction, he couldn't help but feel guilty. This was someone else's food! What right did he have to take it? He slowed his eating. He could swear Friday was silently judging him and glanced nervously at the ceiling. Will she tell Tony? Peter paled. He'll kick him out of the Avengers for sure. Who would want a thief on their team? A thief and a failure.

"Peter, breathe." He gulped down a lung full of air. He hadn't noticed he stopped breathing His eyes skittered outside the glass elevator and noticed that they'd stopped moving. When had that happened? He was so busy thinking he almost missed it when Friday spoke to him again.

"Breathe in for four, hold for seven, out for eight." Peter followed her instructions and when it seemed like he wasn't in danger of hyperventilating the elevator continued its descent.

It seemed to be going at a snail's pace as Friday continued guiding Peter away from panic, only stopping when he said, "Ok, I'm good. I'm fine. Thanks, Friday."

The AI didn't say anything and Peter felt his face turn red in embarrassment. Objectively, he knew taking two slices of pizza wasn't a big deal but that didn't stop him from falling into the pit of 'what-ifs'. He probably bothered Friday with his stupid problems and now she was going to tell Mr. Stark. Tears sprang to his eyes. He recognized that his thoughts were spiraling but he couldn't seem to get a grip on them. "Friday, can you keep this between us?"

She paused. "If that is what you want. There is nothing in my programming requiring me to tell Mr. Stark," Peter sagged in relief, "But I do believe this is cause for concern, Peter. The best course of action-"

"Thanks, Friday but I have it handled." Peter felt bad for interrupting her but he didn't want to know how that sentence was going to end.

Friday lapsed into silence for the rest of the ride as the elevator picked up speed, soon arriving in the lobby. Peter couldn't get out of there fast enough, nearly tripping as he went, pizza still in hand. He gobbled it down as he walked towards the front desk, still jittery from the anxiety attack. He's pretty sure that was the longest elevator ride of his life.

The receptionist smiled at him and handed him the tablet to sign out. Putting on a shaky smile he vaguely noted how much nicer she was from her predecessor, who always seemed to stare at him in tight-lipped suspicion and scorn. It was a nice change of pace.

He was thinking about this when his shaky hands fumbled the device. He was so frazzled that, even with his powers, it would have tumbled to the ground if the woman didn't reach over as quickly as she did. She righted the tablet and asked, "Are you all right?" Peter's face burned as he nodded, avoiding eye contact. Now she was probably as annoyed with him as Friday was.

He lowered his head further as he finished signing out.

He couldn't do anything right today.

Sally was concerned.

The boy-she glanced at his name-Peter, looked to be on the verge of a breakdown. She had to wonder what happened between when she sent him on his way and now.

She reached under over her desk towards her bag, pulling out the mini blue muffins she made that morning. She opened the bag and held it out so he could take one, "Here, do you want one?" she asked.

Peter flinched and she tried to keep the smile on her face as her concern deepened. There was an awkward pause as he looked at it nervously with a bit of suspicion. His hand twitched as he shook his head. "Thank you, but I don't – um, it's okay…" His stomach growled but he pretended not to hear it.

Sally took out a muffin and popped it into her mouth. "They're really good if I do say so myself, and I have too many to know what to do with. You'd be doing me a favor, Mr. Parker." Peter slowly reached over, plucking one from the bag. A small smile graced his face as he noticed the blue fish-shaped sprinkles on top. His eyes widened when he took a bite.

"These. Are. Incredible." He reached over, about to grab another, when he froze and redirected his hand to scratch the back of his head. "Thank you, Ms…."

"Jackson, but you can call me Sally," she said offering her hand.

The smile turned wider, more genuine. "Peter." They shook hands. Sally was relieved to find that the panic was nearly gone from his eyes.

Picking up the bag of muffins, she held it out and gestured for him to take it. Peter gaped in awe and disbelief. "No, no, I can't– I shouldn't–" Sally merely raised an eyebrow, giving no room for rejection. The mini muffins dangled in the air as she refused to let him leave without taking them.

"I have plenty, Peter. It's no trouble." She reassured. After a moment of internal struggle that made Sally sure he was overthinking the whole thing, he realized there was no way out of it and gratefully took the bag.

"Thank you," he said and Sally wondered when the last time someone did something nice for him was.

She tried to banish the thought as she nodded. "You're welcome."

Before Peter could say anything else, a man walked up to the receptionist, nearly knocking him out of the way. "Can I sign in?" He asked with a scowl, "or are you too busy to be doing your job?"

Peter looked down with guilt and shame for getting Sally in trouble. His eyes dimmed as he gave her a small wave goodbye, turning to walk away.

Sally raised her head to tell Peter that it was okay, to come back, but he was already rushing out the doors.

The man tapped his smartwatch. "Chop, chop, I don't have all day." Furious, Sally bit back all the vulgar retorts she kept on a tight leash when dealing with people like him. If she could tell him off, she would, but she needed this job. She won't let him win by getting her fired. Instead, she gave a smile so sharp it could've cut diamonds and simply stared at him.

The man paled in fear and took a step back as the insult on his tongue withered and died. Sally's icy stare was one that promised endless pain if he didn't fix his attitude. Right. Now. Instinct told him to run; told him that this woman could destroy him if she pleased; told him that he made a grave mistake in pissing her off.

She silently dared him to say something and took solace as he looked ready to bolt but was unable to look away. Good, she thought as he started to tremble. Good.

She finally broke her stare and the man stuttered out a breath. She rolled her eyes internally; he wasn't worth her time.

She took his badge that lay forgotten on the desk from when he tossed it to her and processed his information. She gave him another smile that chilled him to the core. "Have a nice day," she said, handing back the badge and watching as he all but sprinted towards the elevator. Being the mother of a demi-god isn't easy but she's learned a few tricks along the way that helped her deal with assholes and monsters alike. She called that one the 'Guilt Trip x 1000™'.

Going over the brief encounter with Peter, Sally looked towards the lobby doors in worry, deciding to bring extra muffins from now on.


End file.
